Nissan trying to seize home used by Mr Ghosn

Auto News - Published on Fri, 14 Dec 2018

Auto News reported that Nissan is trying to block access to homes used by Mr Carlos Ghosn in Beirut and Rio de Janeiro, part of a global network of real estate owned by the automaker and provided to its ousted chairman, according to people familiar with the situation. Nissan provided Mr Ghosn and his family with use of properties from Brazil to France during his tenure, which came to an abrupt end last month when the executive was arrested in Tokyo over suspected financial crimes.

Prosecutors in Japan indicted Mr Ghosn and Nissan on Monday, accusing him of under-reporting his income. The Franco-Brazilian executive was arrested again in Tokyo on charges that cover a different time period than the earlier charges. That will keep him in detention for at least another 10 days.

While that legal battle plays out in Japan, Nissan has been working to prevent Mr Ghosn’s family from gaining access to a luxury apartment in Rio de Janeiro worth roughly USD 3 million and a pale-pink mansion in the historic district of Beirut that the automaker bought for $8.75 million in 2012, say the people, who are familiar with the investigation Nissan conducted into Ghosn that laid the groundwork for his arrest.

Locks have already been changed at several properties, the people said. Ghosn’s wife, Carole, was prevented from entering the home in Beirut, they said. In Brazil, Nissan is petitioning a local court’s decision to grant Ghosn’s representatives access to the Rio apartment “due to a high likelihood of evidence being removed or destroyed,” the automaker said in a statement Monday.